{{short description|American fashion designer}} {{Infobox person | name = Larry Aldrich | image = Larry Aldrich.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1906|06|13}} | birth_place = Manhattan, New York, United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|10|26|1906|06|13}} | death_place = | alma_mater = | other_names = | occupation = fashion designer | known_for = Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum }}
'''Larry Aldrich''' (June 13, 1906 – October 26, 2001) was an American fashion designer, art collector, and founder of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/30/arts/larry-aldrich-who-founded-art-museum-dies-at-95.html| title=Larry Aldrich, Who Founded Art Museum, Dies at 95| author=John Russell| date=October 30, 2001| work=The New York Times}}</ref>
==Life== Aldrich began working in the fashion trade in 1924. He began producing garments under his own label in the 1940s.<ref>[https://vintagefashionguild.org/resources/item/label/aldrich-larry/ Larry Aldrich, brief biography] Vintage Fashion Guild. Retrieved November 8, 2011</ref> He was president of the New York Couture Group.
He began collecting art in 1937. Initially, it was just a circumstantial act and not from any avid interest. He was married in 1940. He and his wife bought a weekend home in Ridgefield, Connecticut. His wife had an interest in painting and, concerned about her boredom during the week while he was in New York, he began bringing home literature about art, which he himself began to read. At the conclusion of World War II, air travel to Europe eventually resumed. Aldrich had already decided that he would like to acquire some art. In 1947, Aldrich and his wife flew to Paris with the intention of buying an Utrillo.<ref name="oralhist">[http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-larry-aldrich-12596 "Oral history interview with Larry Aldrich, 1972 Apr. 25-June 10"] Archives of American Art. Retrieved November 4, 2011</ref>
His collection grew to be substantial. On his way out to buy cigarettes one day in Ridgefield, Connecticut he spied a building for sale on Main Street. Seeing that it had high ceilings, he thought it would work well as a place to house his extensive art collection. After investing a substantial sum to renovate, he turned it into a museum, initially called the "Old Hundred", after the name of the building. He soon changed it, however, because the name did not indicate the contemporary character of the contents.<ref name="oralhist" />
He founded the Larry Aldrich Museum in 1964.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/27/nyregion/founder-of-aldrich-museum-looks-to-its-expansion.html?ref=larryaldrich| title=Founder of Aldrich Museum Looks to its Expansion| author=Eleanor Charles| work=The New York Times| date=April 27, 1986}}</ref> The Museum previously awarded an annual Larry Aldrich Award, honoring contemporary visual artists who had made an impact on contemporary art world in the previous three years.<ref>[http://www.aldrichart.org/about/fellowships.php Fellowships] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929073039/http://www.aldrichart.org/about/fellowships.php |date=2011-09-29 }} Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum</ref><ref>[http://www.e-flux.com/shows/view/6362 Press release] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103224823/http://e-flux.com/shows/view/6362 |date=2010-01-03 }} Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (2007). Retrieved November 8, 2011</ref>
His fashion house designed the volunteer docent uniforms for the City Art Museum of St. Louis in 1968. <ref>{{cite news| title=Volunteer Group Befriends Museum| author=Ellen Schlafley| date=September 15, 1968| work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch}}</ref>
== See also == * Dorothy Mayhall * Jacqueline Moss
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.aldrichart.org/about/mission.php "Mission & History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719221710/http://www.aldrichart.org/about/mission.php |date=2011-07-19 }}, ''The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum'' * [http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/a/larry_aldrich/index.html Larry Aldrich News - The New York Times] *[http://archives.nypl.org/the/21581 Larry Aldrich papers, 1957-1964], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrich, Larry}} Category:1906 births Category:2001 deaths Category:Designers from Manhattan Category:Fashion designers from New York City Category:Museum founders Category:People from Ridgefield, Connecticut Category:20th-century American art collectors